UH men's golf begins play May 16 at NCAA Franklin Regional

From our community

Published 4:00 pm, Saturday, May 14, 2016

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

UH men's golf begins play May 16 at NCAA Franklin Regional

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

FRANKLIN, Tenn.- For the fifth consecutive season, the University of Houston Men’s Golf program will compete in NCAA Regional play when it tees off at the NCAA Franklin Regional on Monday morning at Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Houston, which ranks No. 35 nationally by Golfstat, was one of81 teams and 45 individuals selected to compete at the NCAA Regionals. This will mark the fifth straight season in which the Cougars will compete as a team at an NCAA Regional, the first time program has accomplished that feat since 1998-02.

“We will put a good foot forward and we will be prepared,” said Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke, who is in his seventh season with the Cougars. “We are excited to competed against some of the best teams in the country,”

Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend. Fans can follow live scoring by visitinggolfstat.comand following the appropriate links orby clicking here.

The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each Regional advance to the NCAA Championships to be played May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. Houston has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last two seasons.

“I am really excited about our group. With Matt Scobie back, we have different mindset. Our guys have a lot of confidence with him being back in the lineup, and we have a strong group,” Dismuke said. “We haven’t played as well as we would have liked, but he will add to our lineup and gives us a better chance to move through."

FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS

The 3-day, 54-hole tournament will be played with 18 holes each day. For Monday’s First Round, the Cougars will compete in threesomes with student-athletes from Washington and Virginia off No. 10.

Perras has been a consistent performer for the Cougars this season. The Deer Park, Texas, native captured the individual title at the HBU Husky Intercollegiate and leads the Cougars with nine top-20 finishes in 12 tournaments this season.

At the HBU Husky Intercollegiate, Perras opened with a 63 in the First Round, becoming only the fourth player in school history to post a score that low in any round.

This season, he leads the Cougars with a 71.97 scoring average and 18 rounds of par or better. He was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Team on Friday, the first postseason honor of his collegiate career.

Hamilton has posted a 72.62 average this season with 14 rounds of par or better with his latter total ranking second on the team. The Burlington, Ontario, native has enjoyed eight top-20 finishes this season, including a fourth-place showing at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic during the fall.

In addition to his athletic achievements, Hamilton has been equally impressive in the classroom. He was recently recognized as the 2015-16 American Athletic Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and will graduate this month with his bachelor’s degree in communications.

Martino, who is another four-year letterman on the team, ranks second on the team with a 72.55 scoring average. Like Perras, the Southlake, Texas, native opened his season on a high note, earning medalist honors at the Northern Intercollegiate, thanks to a Second-Round 66, in the fall opener.

Gonzalez broke in the Cougars’ starting lineup early in the spring season and has become a fixture. The McAllen, Texas, native won the first tournament of his collegiate career with a score of 146 at the one-day, 36-hole President’s Day Challenge at Shadow Hawk Golf Club.

He has enjoyed three top-10 finishes, including a third-place showing at the Cougars’ own All-America Intercollegiate at Golf Club of Houston in February.

Scobie returns to Houston’s lineup after sitting out the entire spring season with a foot injury suffered in January. Before being sidelined, the Ajax, Ontario, native finished fourth at the Shoal Creek Invitational and followed that with a fourth-place finish at the OGIO Utah Invitational after firing back-to-back 66s to open that tournament.

The Cougars enters the NCAA postseason after finishing third at the American Athletic Conference Championships on May 1-3 on the Quarry Course at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Fla. Perras and Martino posted scores of even-par 216 to tie for ninth and lead the Cougars.

COUGARS in NCAA REGIONAL PLAY

Hamilton will make his second appearance in NCAA Regional play and enjoys the most impressive resume among the current Cougars. Posting a score of 8-under-par 205, Hamilton finished as the 2015 NCAA Lubbock Regional co-champion, becoming only the third Cougars to win an NCAA Regional individual title.

With scores of 68-69-68, he also became the first Cougar in school history to post three consecutive rounds in the 60s in NCAA Regional competition.

Martino will make his third appearance in NCAA Regionals this week. He tied for 30th with a score of 227 at the 2013 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and tied for 22nd at the NCAA Lubbock Regional a year ago.

Perras, Scobie and Gonzalez will be making their NCAA Regional debuts this week.

DISMUKE at VANDERBILT LEGENDS CLUB

Although this will be the Cougars’ first appearance at Vanderbilt Legends Club in recent history, Dismuke is no stranger to the course and has enjoyed tremendous success.

As an assistant coach at Mississippi from 2006 to 2008, Dismuke helped lead the Rebels to team championships at the 2006 Mason Rudolph Championship and the rain-shortened 2008 Mason Rudolph Championship, both on the South Course.

This will mark the 19th time the Cougars will compete in NCAA Regional play as a team with four individual appearances during their history. During that time, Houston has enjoyed one NCAA Regional team championship (1998 Central) and three individual titles.

A year ago, the Cougars earned the No. 6 seed at the NCAA Lubbock Regional. Tied after 54 holes, Houston defeated Purdue in a 1-hole team playoff to earn the fifth and final spot and advance to the NCAA Championships for the second straight season.

UP NEXT

The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each Regional after Wednesday’s Final Round advance to the NCAA Championships to be played May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.